Definitions for skulduggery

dishonorable proceedings; mean dishonesty or trickery: bribery, graft, and other such skulduggery.

an instance of dishonest or deceitful behavior; trick.

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Citations for skulduggery

When the scandal involves Goldman Sachs, the richest, most powerful firm on Wall Street, and the central figure is an unknown thirty-one-year-old Frenchman who refers to himself as Fabulous Fab, the result is a barrage of news stories that most people don’t fully understand but which create a widespread sense that some unprecedented skullduggery has been revealed and that villainous investment bankers will finally be held to account.John Cassidy, "Scandals," The New Yorker, May 3, 2010

Some large piece of skulduggery had gone on today, and he itched to know what it was, the more so because he felt so close to understanding it.Ken Follett, Paper Money, 1977

Origin of skulduggery

1705-1715

Skulduggery is an Americanism that arose in the early 1700s. Beyond that, its origin is uncertain, though etymologists suggest that it may be related to the Scots word sculduddery meaning "fornication."